Barbara Lee: “I thank Congresswoman Speier for her leadership as well as Chairman Deutch and the Speaker for bringing this with…”

“I thank Congresswoman Speier for her leadership as well as Chairman Deutch and the Speaker for bringing this with urgency. Representative Gosar used taxpayer-funded resources to publicize a cartoon of him killing one of our House colleagues, Congresswoman Ocasio-Cortez, and threatening to kill the President. When Republicans don't condemn death threats against their colleagues and the President, it sends a message to the public that these threats are condoned. Their silence and misrepresentation in light of these threats speak volumes. Now, it might be easy for Mr. Gosar to shrug this off as a joke, but it is not only Members of Congress but women and people of color throughout the country who deal daily with the threat of physical violence. This is no laughing matter. As someone who for decades has had to live with death threats, this is a moment when we need to say enough is enough. Hate speech leads to hate violence. Death threats can lead to death. Threats to murder people can lead to criminal charges. This is the minimum we need to do. It reinforces that this behavior will not be tolerated. Madam Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support this resolution.”